Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, combine the ground lamb, garlic, lemon zest, oregano, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper until the spices are all well incorporated into the meat.

Form the meat into approximately 9-12 meatballs and place into an oven safe dish. Place the lemon slices into the pan on top of some of the meatballs.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through or is just slightly pink in the center.

Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over the meatballs upon serving.

I love having these in lettuce ‘boats’ served with other salad ingredients

This recipe comes from http://balancedbites.com

Flourless Chocolate Cake

It’s the crisp shell and gooey fudge centre that makes this chocolate flourless cake the best. A kiwi slice of gluten free heaven!

Serves 10+

For Flourless Chocolate Cake, you will need:

250g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) roughly chopped

150g butter, diced

2/3 cup caster sugar

125g almond meal

5 eggs (yolks separated from whites, saving both)

Icing sugar to dust

Icecream (if serving warm)

How to make Flourless Chocolate Cake:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Grease the sides of a 23cm springform tin with butter and line base with non-stick baking paper.

Put the chocolate, butter and sugar in a glass or stainless steel bowl. Place this over a saucepan of simmering water (making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water).

Stir constantly until smooth and melted. Move this chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl then stir in the almond meal.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well between each egg yolk with a wooden spoon.

Place the egg whites in a new, separate bowl. Use an electric beater to beat the egg whites until firm and when the peaks form. Add 1/3 of the eggwhite to the chocolate mixture and use a large metal spoon to fold in until combined. Fold through the remaining egg white.

Pour your cake mixture into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake in your preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre.

Auraliza’s 3 Ingredient Paleo Energy Bars

I am a huge fan of chewy, nutty, fruit-filled energy bars of the sort made by Lärabar. These little bars are enough to spur me on to an afternoon work-out and keep The Hangry at bay. It was looking at the ingredient list of my favorite Cherry Pie Lärabar that made me first consider making them myself. The ingredients were just dates, almonds, and cherries. So simple. So incredibly mind-blowing.

I tinkered with ratios a bit, but in the end, I decided to take the most straight-forward path: equal parts dried fruits, nuts, and pitted dates. Whizz them together in a food processor until they combine into a thick paste, press into a square, chill, and chop into squares for snacking. Done.

Making energy bars really is that simple. You’ll never need to buy them again.

My favorite is still cherries, almonds, and dates (which are pictured here), but you can swap out the cherries and almonds for any dried fruit or nut. Keep the dates, though. They act as a binder and also sweeten the bars without needing sugar.

You can also play around with adding other ingredients into the mix: a few tablespoons of chia seeds, a handful of coconut, even some chocolate chips. Again, keep the same ratio of the base ingredients (1 part dried fruit, 1 part nut, 1 part dates), and add the extras a bit at a time until you get a taste and texture that you like.

How To Make 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home

Makes 8 large bars or 16 small square-shaped bars

Ingredients

1 cup nuts

1 cup dried fruit

1 cup (12-15 whole) pitted dried dates, preferably Medjool

Equipment

Food processor

Plastic wrap or wax paper

Sharp knife

Additional Notes:

Energy balls: The dough can also be shaped into small balls. Refrigerate until firm, then wrap in plastic for longer storage.

Instructions

Roast the nuts (optional). Nuts can be used raw or roasted; roasting will add a toasty, nutty depth to the bars. If desired, roast the nuts at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until fragrant and golden. Allow to cool before using.

Combine the nuts, dried fruit, and dates in a food processor. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse a few times just to break them up. Separate the dates if they start to clump together.

Process continuously for 30 seconds. By this point, the ingredients should all have broken down into crumb-sized pieces. Scrape the edges of the bowl and beneath the blade to make sure nothing is sticking.

Process continuously until a ball is formed, 1 to 2 minutes. Continue processing for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the ingredients clump together and gather into a ball.

Press into a thick square and chill. Lay a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper on your work surface and dump the dough on top. Press the dough with your hands until it forms a thick square, roughly 8″x8″ in size. Wrap and chill for at least an hour or overnight.

Divide into bars. Unwrap the chilled dough and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 8 large bars or 16 small squares, as desired. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or wax paper.

Store the bars. Store the bars in the fridge for several weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The bars can be eaten straight from the fridge or freezer and will be firm, but chewy. Room-temperature bars are perfectly fine to eat and can be kept in a lunch bag or backpack all day, but will be more soft and paste-like.

Mix these ingredients together in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together well. Put into a loaf tin and bake at 160-180 for 40 mins.

Brownie

Ingredients

1 cup of dark choc chips/melts

1/2 cup coconut milk or cream

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups almond flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 Tbsp of baking powder

1/2 cup shredded almond (optional topping)

Heat oven to 180. Melt choc and coconut cream/milk in a pot over a low heat. Take off heat and add the eggs and mix well. Add almond flour, baking powder and salt and mix. Add shredded coconut, mix. Pour into a brownie dish (high sides) sprinkle shredded almonds on top (if you like). Bake for 25-30 mins. Stick a skewer in the middle it should come out a bit wet to get brownie consistency.

Date Balls

Ingredients

2 cups date (soak overnight then drain and mash)

1 1/4 cups almond flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup cocoa (I use 1/4 cup cocoa + 1 scoop protein)

As much chopped nuts/dried fruit as you want, mix and roll into balls and roll in desiccated coconut.